Opioid misuse and addiction is killing thousands of people in Michigan and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley wants to ramp up efforts to combat the problem.

Calley spoke Thursday in front of about 500 attendees of the Second Annual Opioid Abuse and Heroin Overdose Solutions Summit. The event at Burton Manor in Livonia was sponsored by the Greater Detroit Area Health Council and the Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority.

"My question of the day to you is, can we all agree there are no throw-away lives? Everyone has value and potential," said Calley, who often speaks out on issues involving behavioral health and substance abuse problems and was chair of the state's Prescription Drug and Opioid Abuse Task Force.

"There were 52,000 overdoses last year, a couple thousand in Michigan. We have tried to solve it with law enforcement. Locking people up has been a spectacular failure" as the number of crimes, overdoses, deaths, lost lives and broken families continued to rise.

"Addiction is a health care issue and requires a health care response."

While data for 2016 in Michigan won't be available until later this year, 52,404 people died in 2015 of overdoses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Michigan ranks 18th in the nation for all overdose deaths while drug-related deaths climbed from 1,553 in 2013 to 1,980 in 2015.

"The key to winning this fight is to stand together," Kate Kohn-Parrott, CEO of the Greater Detroit Area Health Council, said in a statement. "Deaths related to opioid-overdose can be prevented with the right coordinated supports."

Tom Watkins, CEO of Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority, touched on the need for a coordinated effort. "With this united front, we are up to the challenge of combating the opioid epidemic that has plagued our communities," he said in a statement.

A good example of communities working with law enforcement and nonprofit mental health agencies and substance abuse providers is in Macomb County, Calley said.

"One hundred percent of law enforcement agencies participate with nonprofits" to help people with addictions, said Calley, noting that people with opioid addictions have a safe harbor now under the state's Good Samaritan law to ask for drug treatment without the fear of arrest.

"Doctors are saving people from overdose" in emergency clinics, but sometimes "are seeing the same person a day later," Calley said. "We need to get people to treatment."

Last year, the DWMHA began training hundreds of individuals and first responders how to use naloxone opioid overdose kits. So far, 39 lives have been saved, Watkins said. The authority has also been distributing drug disposal bags and red-colored drug take-back boxes in Wayne County.

Calley said the April 27 drug-take back day at the Michigan State Police headquarters netted 600 pounds of prescription pills. Dozens of the drug take-back boxes are located inside local police departments throughout the state.

"To overcome the epidemic, we need to work together," Calley said. "We can't take the attitude that is not my job. Naloxone is now available over the counter (under the name Narcon in some pharmacies). Schools, first responders, law enforcement, families are now more equipped with antidote for overdoses."

But Calley advised people not to judge others with addictions too harshly. "We have to understand that recovery is never a straight line and relapses occur," he said. "It is not willpower; it's biology."

Calley said everyone can help reduce the availability of opioid drugs by paying attention.

"I'd like to give you all assignments," he said. "Check your medicine cabinets. Most people started opioid use with prescriptions, and most of (prescriptions) were not for them."

Too many people are prescribed medications that they never use or don't use completely.

"I got a root canal and was given Vicodin. I didn't need it. That (prescription) was at risk for being diverted" to someone for resale, recreational or pain uses.

Calley said one of the main sources of opioid drugs are physicians who prescribe pain medications.

In February, the Michigan Automated Prescription System went online to help doctors who prescribe opioids to check on doctors and other controlled substance providers use to more accurately track prescription drugs in an effort to combat rising overdose deaths.

"How can doctors make decisions without complete information?" Calley said. "A person in withdrawal is in real pain. They go to the ER; it is not fake."

But Calley said the old MAPS online system took 15 minutes for doctors or other prescribers to get results. The delay caused many doctors to not use the system.

"The new system, with two months' results back, takes 0.9 secords," Calley said. "More prescribers are signing up to use it and there will be more in the future."

Calley suggested doctors and pain prescribers take another step to warn people about addiction risks. "Doctors ask people about their pain level," he said. "What if (people) were told about their risks? If they understood risks to treating pain, how many people would make difference decisions in how they managed their pain?"

Calley then became blunt about potential risks. "Oxycontin. Use as prescribed, but there is a good chance you could become addicted and it could destroy your life. Tell them that. Make sure people understand their risks. Make patients partners" in reducing addiction risks.

After the meeting, Calley was asked if he is concerned that changes in the Affordable Care Act, specifically proposals in Congress to reduce federal Medicaid revenue sharing by $800 billion over 10 years, could damage Michigan's efforts to combat opioid addiction and treatment. Medicaid programs are a main source of treatment and counseling for people with opioid addictions.

"A couple days ago (U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom) Price was here in Lansing with a $16.4 million grant to help with the opioid problem," said Calley, adding that he expects the federal government will provide more than $1.3 billion in funds over the next two years to help states combat opioid problems.

The Trump administration recently created a commission to study opioid addiction headed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

The $16.4 million grant to Michigan was part of 21st Century Cures Act, which was approved under the Obama administration. "The ACA could go into many directions," Calley said. "There are a lot of unknowns and a lot of decisions to make in how to meet the epidemic."

But Calley said he doesn't just want current efforts to continue. "We need to do more," he said.